1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soccer shoe having an improved structure, which allows a user to kick a ball farther, lessens the pain in a kicker""s feet, and allows the shoe to maintain its shape after kicking a ball or even after being used for relatively long time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Soccer shoes are footwear, which a user puts on when the user play soccer or kicks a soccer ball.
In kicking a soccer ball with a soccer shoe, it is necessary to impact different parts of the ball with different portions of the shoe in order to make the ball move in different directions and at different velocities. For example, if one desires to kick the ball low and hard, i.e. at a high velocity, one must strike the ball with the front upper portion of the shoe, otherwise known in the industry as the instep, Likewise, if one desires to make a short pass to a teammate keeping the ball on the ground, one must strike the middle of the ball with the inner side surface of the shoe.
Further, in order to make the ball curve to either the right or left when one strikes the ball with one""s foot, it is desirable to strike a preselected portion of the ball with a preselected portion of the foot. For example, if a right footed kicker desires to make the ball curve from right to left, he or she may strike the exterior of the ball with the inside toe portion of the right foot. Conversely, if the right footed kicker desires to make the ball curve outwardly, i.e. from left to right, the kicker may strike the left side of the ball with the outer toe portion of his or her right foot.
As can be inferred from the above description, an impact applied to the user""s foot, a repulsive force between the shoe and the ball, and a flying distance of the ball are different according to the material and the structure of the upper of a soccer shoe, when the user wearing the soccer shoe kicks the ball.
Especially, when the user wants to give a long kick or shoot a goal, the user usually does an instep kick, which uses the instep portion in kicking, and a stronger repulsive force is required in the instep portion of the upper of the shoe, in order to increase the flying distance and speed of the kicked ball. Moreover, it can be generally said that the repulsive force is required to be increased for the entire portion of a soccer shoe.
Each upper of various conventional soccer shoes usually consists of three layers, an outer coat, a sponge layer, and an inner coat. However, in the upper of the conventional soccer shoes, the sponge layer mainly maintains the form of the shoe and provides the repulsive force, which relatively has a limitation in increasing the repulsive force between the conventional shoe and the ball.
In addition, an impact applied to a portion of the user""s foot, especially to the user""s toe, which is relatively sensitive to the pain, can make the user feel a pain in the portion of the user""s foot, by which the user kicks the ball. Moreover, this pain can disturb the user in kicking the ball strongly for the concern for the pain. However, the three layers of the conventional shoes cannot perform a sufficient function in preventing or reducing the pain.
Moreover, the sponge layer also has a limitation in constantly maintaining the form of the soccer shoe after being deformed or after being used for long time
In spite of these problems of the conventional soccer shoes, there has been found no technology or art in order to reduce the pain as described above and increase the repulsive force by the soccer shoe in the knowledge of the present applicant.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a soccer shoe having a structure, which allows a user to kick a ball farther, lessens the pain in a kicker""s feet, and allows the shoe to maintain its shape after kicking a ball or even after being used for relatively long time.
Also, it is another object of the present invention to provide a soccer shoe having a structure, which enable not only the user to put on the shoe more fitly, so as to increase the flying distance of the ball, but also the adhesive force between the layers to be increased, so as to improve the quality of the shoe.
In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides a soccer shoe capable of allowing a user to kick a ball farther, the soccer shoe comprising: a sole member; and an upper fixed to the sole member, the upper surrounding at least heel, inside foot, outside foot, toe, and instep portions of the user, when the user puts on the soccer shoe, wherein the upper comprises: an inner coat fitly surrounding and being in contact with the heel, the inside foot, the outside foot, the toe, and the instep portions of the user, when the user puts on the soccer shoe; an outer coat constituting an outermost layer of the soccer shoe, so as to come into contact with the ball when the user kicks the ball; and a sponge layer and a rubber layer inserted between the inner coat and the outer coat, the sponge layer and the rubber layer being adhered to each other, the inner coat being adhered to a first one of the sponge layer and the rubber layer, the outer coat being adhered to a second one of the sponge layer and the rubber layer.
Preferably, the inner coat, the sponge layer, and the rubber layer may respectively be made from cloth, compressed sponge, and natural rubber, while the outer coat may be made from such material as leather, polyurethane, and vinyl resin.
More preferably, the rubber layer has a thickness between 0.38 mm and 0.42 mm, and is so formed as to cover only the toe portion of the user. The rubber layer may have a plurality of pores.